Today, the role of philanthropy is expanding and so are its responsibilities. This online SDGrantmakers Update is published by San Diego Grantmakers to help you meet the challenge. Our mission is to connect, teach, develop, and inspire a diverse group of foundations and corporations to stimulate effective philanthropy in the San Diego region. For more information, visit www.SDGrantmakers.org.

"Money is like muck, not good except to be spread." -Francis Bacon

Julie Fry, Director of the Arts & Culture Program at the San Diego Foundation, has joined the board of San Diego Grantmakers. Previously, Julie was Director of Arts & Business Programs at the San Diego Performing Arts League. She received her BBA in Economics and French from the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire and her MBA from the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas.

Christy Wilson of Rancho Santa Fe Foundation, Paul Thompson and Charlene Pryor of San Diego Foundation, and Charlene Seidle of Jewish Community Foundation spoke at the January 27 North County Philanthropy Council luncheon event: "Grants and Beyond: What Communty Foundations Can Do for You!"

Qualcomm’s Leader in Philanthropy
Dr. Irwin Mark Jacobs, co-founder and chairman of the board of directors at QUALCOMM, Inc., and his wife Joan were recently ranked #22 in BusinessWeek’s Top 50 Most Generous Philanthropists and also secured the #10 ranking in the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s 2003 list of America’s Most Generous Donors.

Jacobs Family Foundation:  Breaking Ground
In November 2005, more than 300 residents of southeastern San Diego communities came together to break new ground on the $23.5 million Joe and Vi Jacobs Community Center, the centerpiece of Market Creek Plaza and a new community resource.  The Joe and Vi Jacobs Community Center is planned as a 75,000-sq. ft., three-story building housing a cultural training kitchen, a state-of-the-art meeting and conference center, accessible community and office space, a showplace for public art, a neighborhood gathering place, and the headquarters for the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation (JCNI). Market Creek Plaza is funded by a unique public-private partnership that brought together public and private, non-profit and for-profit funding partners.  To date, the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation and the Jacobs Family Foundation (JFF) have provided more than $41 million in technical assistance, training, and program support in San Diego. JFF’s $4.5 million investment in Market Creek Plaza leveraged another $19 million in resources for the community.

Jewish Community Foundation:  Awards & Recognition
The Jewish Community Foundation of San Diego was recently recognized in The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s “Philanthropy 400,” which ranks the top 400 charities in the United States based on amount of contributions to the nonprofit organizations in fiscal year 2003/2004.  The foundation debuted on the list in position 177, reporting private funds raised of $87,693,163. The Foundation was among the top three groups listed in San Diego and the only local grantmaking organization listed. The Foundation’s acknowledgement follows a four-star rating for operational efficiency from Charity Navigator as well as being named the fastest growing organization of its kind by the United Jewish Communities for the second year in a row.  The United Jewish Communities presented JCF with the Community Excellence Award for being the most successful foundation of its kind in North America. 

McCarthy Family Foundation: Website Remodel
The McCarthy Family Foundation has launched a new website with additional features, including foundation history, online letter of inquiry, access to financial information and 990s, and links to other organizations (including San Diego Grantmakers!). 

Rancho Santa Fe Foundation:  Christy Wilson, TV Star
Christy Wilson of the Rancho Santa Fe Foundation was a guest on Andrea Naversen and Sandra Maas' KUSI television program on November 12, 2005. She spoke about the concept of giving circles and their evolution in the United States, specifically as a way for women to come together to do good.

Hamilton-White Closes
After serving the San Diego community for over ten years, the Hamilton-White Foundation ceased operations in 2005.  We thank the foundation for its support of San Diego Grantmakers and for its widespread involvement in our region!

Northern Trust: Record Granting
Northern Trust announced in late January that its 2005 corporate philanthropy program awarded over $13 million in cash contributions to nonprofit organizations worldwide, an increase of 15.7 percent over the previous year. Northern Trust's goal is to donate approximately 1.5 percent of its pre-tax profits to charities every year.

Great Grants

International Community Foundation
COCIO (the Coalition of Indigenous Communities of Oaxaca)

COCIO, a North County-based nonprofit made up of migrants from the Mexican southern state of Oaxaca that assist in the development of their communities of origin,  recently raised a total of $10,300 dollars for Hurricane Stan victims in Mexico.  Funding came from Oaxacan migrant communities residing in North County and Wells Fargo Bank.  The funds will support rebuilding efforts for the most affected communities in Oaxaca, Mexico. For information, contact Julieta Mendez at ICF.

The Westreich Foundation
Center for Applied Nonprofit Research, USD

One of SDG's newest members, The Westreich Foundation, has made a three-year grant to underwrite the directorship of the Center for Applied Nonprofit Research at USD. After that point, the university will support the position. Because of this grant, the search for a director will be underway shortly! The USD Center for Applied Nonprofit Research is a laboratory that examines issues of strategic importance to the nonprofit sector. Their objective is to enrich the nonprofit community and those who care about it, by analyzing trends that have an impact on the local sector, publishing and making available reports on characteristics of the local and national nonprofit sector, providing research and evaluation services, and providing access to informational resources that can directly assist practitioners.

Sen. Grassley Announces Reform Plans

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) said Jan. 12 he will propose new reforms--including executive compensation changes--for charitable and tax-exempt organizations later in 2006 beyond those in a pending tax reconciliation bill (S. 2020). However, reform likely will not be accomplished in a single package as once envisioned, Grassley said. Progress on charitable sector reforms, which his committee has been examining in recent years, probably will be a "piecemeal" approach of correcting perceived problems as opposed to one "gigantic" bill, Grassley told Iowa reporters via teleconference.

The current legislation, the Tax Relief Act of 2005, is awaiting consideration by a conference committee that will meet to iron out differences in the House and Senate versions. Grassley has indicated that the conference will begin after the President's Day recess (Feb. 20-24) and they hope to take final action on the bill sometime before the St. Patrick's Day recess (March 20-24).

Fairness in Philanthropic Giving?

In late 2005, The Greenlining Institute, representing a coalition of African American, Asian American/Pacific Islander, and Latino community leaders, published findings from a study quantifying foundation giving to minority-led nonprofit organizations entitled Fairness in Philanthropy.  The study analyzed grantmaking data for the top fifty independent foundations and the top twenty-five community foundations by total 2002 giving.  Results indicate that foundations awarded only three percent (3%) of grant dollars to minority-led organizations. The findings suggest that the ability of these organizations to address policy issues and create social change is severely hindered by limited resources and limited access to foundation funding.  Interestingly, it appears that corporate foundations award significantly more grant dollars to minority-led nonprofits.  The report, available here, makes several recommendations to help foundations achieve greater diversity in grantmaking:

• Establish a task force to discuss diversity issues
• Conduct a self-assessment of giving to minority-led nonprofits
• Create a mechanism for tracking and reporting grants to minority-led nonprofits
• Set goals for giving to minority-led organizations
• Conduct research to identify minority-led organizations and identify their funding needs.

In June 2005, SDG launched the Common Grant Application (CGA) in order to help make the grantseeking process simpler and more efficient for nonprofits.  There are currently ten organizations accepting the CGA:

• Alliance Healthcare Foundation
• Boys and Girls Foundation
• International Community Foundation
• Jewish Community Foundation
• Lawrence Welk Family Foundation
• McCarthy Family Foundation
• Qualcomm
• The Parker Foundation
• San Diego County Bar Association Foundation
• The San Diego Foundation

Many of you participated in the design process of the CGA; it was designed to be as comprehensive as possible.  Additionally, any funder that has agreed to accept the CGA may request additional information from applicants at any stage in the proposal process.  If your organization would like to accept the CGA (in addition to OR instead of your own application), please let SDG know.  As more grantmakers utilize the CGA, local nonprofits save precious administrative time and costs, making it easier to achieve their missions!

Youth & Philanthropy: The Giving Game
The Giving Game, a popular free Internet game based on the principle of kindness and the concept introduced in the Warner Brothers’ movie Pay It Forward, has been donated to Learning to Give, a nonprofit organization that teaches young people the importance of philanthropy, nonprofits, and civic engagement.  Created by Brien Moakley, the Giving Game simply involves a Game Card, an individual’s kind acts, and the Giving Game Web site.

Game participants register on the Giving Game Web site, print out a Giving Game card and complete an act of kindness for someone else.  Once the act is completed, they give the card to that person.  After logging on to the Giving Game Web site using a unique ID number on the back of the Giving Game card, the player describes the kind act in the card history. As time progresses, players can see their card travel from one kind person to another and review the associated acts along with who is involved and what cities and countries it reaches. The Giving Game is free to play on both an individual and group basis.  Interested organizations who partner with the Giving Game will have the opportunity to customize Giving Game cards with their logo.

SDG is now a member of Independent Sector, the leadership forum for over 500 charities, foundations, and corporate giving programs committed to advancing the common good in America and around the world.  Membership entitles us to access a wealth of information, tools, and resources on behalf of our member grantmakers. Click here for more about IS resources, and let SDG staff know if you have any questions!

The Council on Foundations features Breaking News: a free, daily e-mail newsletter summarizing the top articles—mostly from national and regional newspapers—about philanthropy. It is distributed via e-mail by the Media Relations Department.
Subscribe by e-mailing your name, title and foundation name to media@cof.org.

Upcoming SDG Programs

A Conversation with Steve Gunderson: New Council on Foundations CEO
March 2, 2006
8:30-10:30 am
Location: Mingei International Museum, Balboa Park
Breakfast Program

Corporate Giving Roundtable
Leadership in San Diego's Community Investment: An All Corporate Members Meeting
March 23, 2006
8:00 am - 10:00 am
Location: University Club Atop Symphony Towers, 750 B Street, Suite 3400, San Diego, CA 92101
Breakfast Roundtable

Women, Money & Values
Sponsored by the Jewish Women's Foundation and the Jewish Community Foundation
March 29, 2006
9:00 am - 12:00 pm
Location: Lawrence Family JCC, Jacobs Family Campus, 4126 Executive Dr, La Jolla
$36 per person

All programs are free for SDG members except where indicated. To RSVP, please call (619) 744-2180 or email programs@sdgrantmakers.org. NOTE:  We are currently planning our member programming for the year - based on the results of the online member survey. Stay tuned!

University of San Diego Nonprofit Leadership & Management Program
Ethics Dialogue Series
2nd Thursdays, 7:30-9:00am (3/9, 4/13, 5/11)
USD Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice
San Diego, CA

Each session is free and includes breakfast. Register online here, or by phone at (619) 260-7442.

Grantmakers for Effective Organizations 2006 National Conference: "Powerful Partnerships: Grantmakers Practices That Improve Grantee Performance"
March 8-10, 2006
Atlanta, GA

Grantmakers are only successful to the extent that their grantees achieve meaningful results. This conference will focus on how grantmakers can improve their practices to leverage grantee performance. Click here for program details and information.

CAN Policy Days: Who's on First?
March 21-22, 2006
Sacramento, CA

Presented by the California Association of Nonprofits in association with Northern California Grantmakers, SDG,and Southern California Grantmakers. What’s going on in Sacramento and Washington, DC that directly impacts the way you work? How are government, nonprofits and business blurring together, and why does it matter to you? Join with leaders from government, nonprofits, business and philanthropy to hash out answers. More information, including registration fees and detailed schedule, is available here.

Forum Teleconference
Leading Boldly: Exercising Adaptive Leadership to Create Social Change
April 5, 2006
Teleconference: 2-3:30 pm EST

Learn how your foundation can become a true leader in creating community-wide change! This call will feature Mark Kramer and John Kania, Foundation Strategy Group Managing Directors and authors of the Stanford Social Innovation Review's Winter 2004 cover article "Leading Boldly." The cost for this call is $25. Register online here.

California Family Resource Association
First Annual Public Policy Conference
April 27-28, 2006
Sacramento, CA

CFRA invites you to attend this new conference, titled Families and Communities that Thrive and Succeed:  The Next Generation of Policy Advocacy in California. Click here for more information.

Stanford Center for Social Innovation
Executive Program for Philanthropy Leaders
July 30-August 5, 2006

This program focuses on leadership development for high-level foundation executives with a special emphasis on vision, power and trust, governance, and collaboration. Click here for more information.

Feel free to comment, suggest article ideas, or submit news items to nancy@SDGrantmakers.org -- We're always happy to hear from you. This online update is a service to San Diego Grantmakers members. Copies of past editions are archived here: News You Can Use.

If you do not wish to receive the monthly update, send an email to nancy@SDGrantmakers.org requesting to unsubscribe in the body of the email.